Paulina Rubio
Paulina Susana Rubio Dosamantes[2] (Spanish pronunciation: [pawˈlina ˈruβjo]; born 17 June 1971)[3] is a Mexican singer, songwriter and television personality. Referred to as "The Golden Girl" and "Princess of Latin Pop",[4][5][6][7] she first achieved recognition as a member of the successful pop group Timbiriche from 1982 through 1991. After leaving Timbiriche, she embarked on a solo career. Rubio has sold over 15 million records, making her one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time.[8]
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rubio and the second or maternal family name is Dosamantes.
Paulina Rubio
- Singer
- songwriter
- model
- actress
- television personality
- businesswoman[1]
1980–present
- Gerardo Bazúa (2012–2016)
2
Susana Dosamantes
Enrique Rubio
- Vocals
- guitar
Rubio's first two studio albums, La Chica Dorada (1992) and 24 Kilates (1993), were commercial successes[9] and made her EMI Latin's best-selling Mexican female artist.[10] In the mid-1990s, she adopted a more dance and electronic style for her next two albums, El Tiempo Es Oro (1995) and Planeta Paulina (1996), and made her feature film debut with a starring role in Bésame en la Boca (1995).
Following a series of concerts with Timbiriche and ending her contract with EMI Latin, Rubio's career was interrupted before the release of her fifth studio album —and her first with Universal Latino—, the homonym Paulina (2000), which is critically referred to as her best album to date. Paulina was an international success and Rubio became the best-selling Latin music artist of the Billboard Year-End in 2001.[11] She returned to the top of the charts again with her sixth and seventh albums, the crossover Border Girl (2002), and the acclaimed Pau-Latina (2004), both of which received positive reviews. Rubio garnered critical praise, including nominations for the Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award. Her next albums, Ananda (2006) and Gran City Pop (2009), were also critically and commercially successful. She followed it with Brava! (2011), which delved into EDM.
Early in the 2010s, Rubio stood out for participating as a coach in the most important talent shows in America and Spain. In 2012, she served as a coach on the second season of La Voz... Mexico. In 2013; Rubio became a coach on La Voz Kids, and also became a judge on The X Factor USA. In 2019, during the promotion of her eleventh studio album, Deseo (2018), she returned on La Voz... España and La Voz Senior.
Rubio has scored three number one albums on the Billboard Top Latin Albums. Five of Rubio's singles have reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs: "Te Quise Tanto", "Dame Otro Tequila", "Ni Una Sola Palabra", "Causa Y Efecto", and "Me Gustas Tanto", making her the fifth best performing female artist on the chart. Other singles, "Mío", "Y Yo Sigo Aquí" and "Don't Say Goodbye", topped the charts in most Hispanic countries. Rubio has earned numerous awards and accolades, including seven Billboard Latin Music Awards; five Lo Nuestro Awards; three MTV Latinoamerica Awards; and two Telehit Awards, including the Trajectory Award; and a special accolade as "Mexican artist with the greatest international projection".
Rubio is regarded as a pop icon and is credited Latin pop era-defining during the 2000s.[12] As one of the most influential female Mexican artists,[13] she was included twice in 2012 and 2013 among the "50 Most Powerful Women in Mexico" by Forbes Mexico.[14] Additionally she was included in their "Celebrity 100: Twitter's most-followed superstars" list in 2015.[15] In 2008, Univision ranked her among the most powerful Latin celebrities in the United States and as one of the Greatest Latin Artists of All Time by Billboard in 2020.
[16][17] According to a 2021 ranking by YouGov, Rubio is the 26th most popular Latin music artist and the 17th most famous.[18]
Life and career[edit]
1971–1981: Early life and career beginnings[edit]
Paulina Susana Rubio Dosamantes was born on 17 June 1971 in Mexico City.[19] Her father, Enrique Rubio González (1932–2011), was a Spanish-born lawyer; her mother was Susana Dosamantes (1948–2022), a Mexican actress.[20] Dosamantes had lived in Guadalajara, Jalisco until adolescence when she decided to become a film actress, and just before Rubio's birth, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1970s in Mexico.[21] Rubio's younger brother, Enrique Rubio Jr., is an important lawyer and socialite; her half-sister Ana Paola Rubio stays out of the spotlight. Her musical legacy comes from her grandmother and great-grandmother, who were a mezzo-soprano singer and pianist, respectively.[22] Her great-grandparents were originally from Spain and Portugal, and from a very young age she used to spend two or three months a year in Europe, visiting relatives. The rest of the year she resided between Mexico and Los Angeles.[23] As a little girl "grew up in the middle of an artistic world surrounded by cameras, lights and sets."[24]
As Rubio has stated of herself: "I've been famous since I was born",[24] due to the commotion that her birth caused, as she was the daughter of one of the most consecrated actresses in Mexico. According to her mother, Rubio grew up among arts media and the filming locations, while she worked. First Rubio's appearance in a film was the early 1980s, when accompanied by younger brother, she got a minor role in film El Día del Compadre. She also took singing, acting, jazz, painting, and dance lessons while enrolled at what is now the Centro de Educación Artística (CEA) in Mexico in 1980.[25] After two years there, Rubio's parents were contacted by producers Julisa and Guillermo del Bosque to they approval of Rubio's joining on a musical band formed by children from the CEA. They were puzzled by Julissa and Guillermo del Bosque's request. Later, Rubio told them "I did the casting without notifying you." Despite Susana and Enrique's dissatisfaction, they reached an agreement with their daughter to be part of the children's musical band, with the condition that she got "a grade of nine in the school."[26]
Impact and legacy[edit]
Rubio has been recognised with many honorific nicknames. When she released her debut solo album La Chica Dorada in the early 1990s, several media gave her the title of the album. Since then, she has been known as "La Chica Dorada" ("The Golden Girl"), especially in Mexico and Latin America. By 2000, Rubio achieved internationalization in Europe with her album Paulina, then the Spanish press named her "El Huracán Mexicano" ("The Mexican Cyclone").[218] During that time, the media also called her "Madonna Latina"[250][251] especially in United States and Mexico, due to the great similarity of her music videos and provocative shows with the American artist. Rubio was consecrated as an international music star in 2000, and was referred as the "Queen of Latin Pop". In 2014, while serving as a coach on the third season of The X Factor, the Fox television network cemented her title as "Queen of Latino Pop" referring to her as "the Mexican superstar who has sold millions of records, she's spicy."[252]
According to the critic José Noé Mercado, Rubio is an icon of pop culture in Latin America, and thanks to the success of her career "she helps us understand the now of our musical status in the pop and even rock world."[253] Los Angeles Times's Alicia Civita included her in her article on "Latina Women on the War Foot in a Male-Dominated Music Industry" and said that Rubio along with her three other countrywomen of her generation "have managed to beat time with their proposals in order to maintain a certain validity with collaborations with exponents of the new generations."[254]
Rubio identifies as a feminist, and is considered a "feminist icon".[255] On feminism in Mexico she has mentioned to Los Angeles Times in 2002, "the stereotype of the Mexican woman as fragile, full of children and powerless has completely disappeared. I believe I am a woman with a strong character who knows the value of discipline and decisiveness."[256] Spanish journalist Lorena Maldonado from online newspaper El Español wrote "The Mexican, by dint of a summer song and playful music, has more than once put the points on the i's with powerful lyrics", cite Rubio's most feminist songs like "Yo No Soy Esa Mujer", "Causa Y Efecto" y "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes".[257]
In 2002 Premios Oye! recognized Rubio as "Mexican Artist with Greatest International Projection".[258] Univision included her in their list of "Most powerful Latinos" and "25 most influential Mexican musicians" en 2008 and 2011, respectively.,[259] She is the fifth female Latin artist on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with the most number-one singles.[260] Rubio's work has influenced artists as Eiza Gonzalez,[261] Emilia Mernes,[262] and Taboo.[263][264]
Co-headlining tours